Gasoline prices remain stable

Fears of widespread gasoline shortages experienced in some areas hours after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks did not repeat themselves after the United States launched retaliatory attacks Sunday.

In the hours that had followed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, prices at some gas stations jumped to as much as $5 per gallon in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Cherie Sage, the public affairs coordinator for AAA Kansas, said the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 and the events that followed could have never been imagined just months ago. Sage said there was no need for the price increases, especially since there was no major disruption in supply and overseas prices of oil had not risen substantially.

"Those were isolated incidents," Sage said regarding the gas stations that raised prices significantly. "It was a panic response to the situation."

Sage said part of the reason prices didn't skyrocket during the recent U.S.-led attacks was because state attorneys general across the country cracked down on price-gouging the first time around.

"In many states, the attorneys general put their foot down and said that would not be tolerated," she said.

Customers know which stations hiked prices in the wake of the attacks, and many felt "betrayed" by their local businesses, Sage said. Gasoline stations don't want to lose customers, which is one reason they didn't attempt to raise prices this time, she said.